Not Quite Group Therapy
-It's been a long while since Acuity was here, and the last time she looked quite a bit different, alas. The permanent loss of her hands and face was considered a severe blow by her superiors, and before allowing her to go back to work it was mandated that she should see a psychiatrist to make sure she was 'stable' enough for the job. While Acuity herselfi is sure she is fine, she doesn't have the knee-jerk reaction to seeing a psychiatrist that many do, so here is is, knocking on Rung's door. -Rung looks up from monitor he's been staring at for the past couple cycles, drawn away from his work by the knock on his door. His thick brows furrow. "Come in," he says passively, not entirely sure who could be coming to see him at this time, he didn't have any scheduled appointments but he doesn't mind walk ins. -Was she supposed to make an appointment? For some reason she thought that was taken care of. Oh well, she's here now, so she steps in once bidden. She hadn't thought much about it before, but now she's feeling a bit nervous. Unfortunately the slight twitches her fingers usually would have made are reduced to the clacking of claws, which is not at all a comforting sound. She sighs. "Hello?" -Rung looks slightly surprised at her appearance when she walks in. His brows furrow a little more, and he motions for her to come in. The psychiatrist then smiles warmly at her. "Don't be anxious, it's alright, sit down," he says motioning for her to do so in a chair across from his desk. -Acuity sits down in the indicated chair. "Um..." she says, reaching to rub the back of her neck, then thinking better of it. She puts her 'hands' in her lap. "My name is Acuity; I was told to come see you," she starts off. Usually she's pretty calm, but at the moment she's got the jitters. -There's a light knock on the door. Outside, Quickswitch is eagerly holding onto a datapad that has apparently seen better days. It's cracked as if a giant fist has fractured the glass in it slightly, "Hello, Rung?" the sixchanger asks through the door, "It's Quickswitch. I thought I'd stop by." -Rung smiles broadly and warmly at the six changer. "Of course, come in, Quickswitch," the psychiatrist says kindly, "it's always a pleasure to see you." He looks down at the fractured data pad. "Oh my, what have we here?" he asks, adjusting his glasses, looking at the object mentioned in a way that can be likened to a parent's initial reaction to their child's very first drawing. Rung nods at Acuity, "Acuity, a pleasure to meet you, I am Rung." He'll be darned if she actually gets his name right the first time. "Oh, you were? I suppose you are supposed to be given an examination. Let me see the health file submitted for you," the psychiatrist replies kindly. -Quickswitch ducks as he enters the room, "Good to see you," he replies contentedly. He smiles down at his fractured datapad, "This is, um, or it /was/..." he notices the other unit present in the room besides himself and Rung and nearly backpeddles out the door and bangs his head! "--Yiiii!! Woah--" WOAH! He spots the empurata victim instantly and draws his datapad closer, "It was something you'll want to see," he says in a guarded voice, eyeing the empurata quite warily. -"Rung? Like a bell?" the female voice without a face asks. "I just need to be cleared to get back to duty. It should all be in there...unless it got lost in the system somehow." Even a mechanical race gets computer issues now and then. Acuity's face betrays nothing at Quickswitch's reaction...mostly because it can't. She raises one claw in a bit of a half-sparked wave. "Uh, hi," she says, her tone coming out sounding a bit lame. -Rung le sighs at her comment about his name being like a bell. Yeah, that's an old joke. Too old. "Of course, and.. ah, I've found it," he says, and skims over it quickly. His brows furrow in compassion. "Oh.. I'm sorry. That is terrible," he says, gently patting Acuity on the arm. "But I will conduct a mental examination, and ask you a few questions. Do you mind?" he asks. "It's alright Quickswitch, she isn't actually a empurata victim," he says, taking the six changer's hand and leading him a seat next Acuity. "What is it that you'd like to show me?" -Not actually an empurata victim? She sure looks like one-- She makes me nervous-- But if Rung claims she isn't an empurata victim-- Quickswitch is led to a chair where he sits, nonetheless strained, next to Acuity. The stark look is something he's been conditioned to avoid at any cost. "This is, um," Quickswitch blushes, "A book I was reading.. it's called--" he glances sidelong at Acuity and mumbles to Rung, "Principles Of Non-Violence'." he smiles, quite sheepishly at the shattered pane of the data pad, "I do turn into a gun, after all.." he says absently. -Acuity didn't mean it as a joke; she just wanted to make sure she heard him right. At least it wasn't as bad as some of the things that have probably been said about his name. "No, that's fine. I expected as much." She lets out a sigh. When Rung reassures Quickswitch, she holds back a laugh at such a small mech offering assurance to such a large one. "It's a long story," she says to the large mech about the fact that she isn't ACTUALLY an Empurata victim. She doesn't have anything to say about the book; it's not her conversation as far as she knows. -Rung looks flattered and proud of Quickswitch. He beams at the six-changer. "Oh /excellent/!" the psychiatrist says, his optics lighting up. "I will have a look at it when I have time," he says, nodding. "Very well then," Rung says, sitting down at his desk. "But first, I'd like to know about a little bit about you. Tell me about yourself. Your personal interests, strengths, weaknesses, relationships, the like." -Quickswitch sounds like a much smaller mech than he is when he speaks, his voice quiet and soft and optics soulful and softly glowing, "Would you like me to wait outside?" The empur--not-Empurata victim still makes him nervous, "I can, if it would make you both more comfortable.." -Acuity blinks, and that's about as much expression as she can muster. Life without a face is awkward. Maybe she should write a book with that title. "I wouldn't really know where to start," she admits with a shrug of her shoulders; at least they still work. "I guess I spend most of my time working, which is why I'm eager to get back to doing it." She leans back in her seat a bit. "As far as I know my record has been pretty good...except for the beginning part when I was part of the Triorian Guard." She turns her head towards Quickswitch, which only tells him that she's looking in his direction. "Whatever is easiest for you. I'll let you know if I'm about to talk about something embarassing." There's a hint of humor in her voice. -"No, no," Rung says, shaking his helm at Quickswitch. "Sit down," he says, "there's no need to alienate yourself, we're all friends." He gives the six changer a small smile. "Work? You don't have any leisurely activities you enjoy? Special relationships? Tell me one thing you think you do well." The psychiatrist quietly takes out a data pad, and starts to take notes. -Suddenly the door opens and standing there is the Captian of the Triorian Guard himself, Springer. With a glances at the two mechs in the room he steps in and toward the owner of that office and the mech hes there to see, "Rung." he begins, "Do you have he evaluation of the newest applicant to the Guard?" and then he glances back toward Quickswitch. "Doing better this cycle?" he asks. -Quickswitch remains seated. Friends. The six changer considers the word. It conjures serene and protective feelings, none of which he feels toward the empura--oh for Primus' sake. When the single glowing optic set in darkness turns toward him he squirms in his seat, then, damns himself for the embarrassing behavior, "All right.. I'll stay.." he says to both Rung and Acuity. He peers at his own datapad and listens. I wonder how she became--like she is, and what it means. It sure looks gruesome. -"Well, I /was/ good at dissolving tensions, but I'm not sure how well I'll do that with /this/ face," Acuity points out. "I'm also a pretty good shot, though not to the point of being considered one of the best." Again she shrugs. "Well, I like to read in my spare time. I get along with those I work with, but I don't have any special attachments." Shifting uncomfortably, she asks, "But that was when I still had my face; I don't imagine people will suddenly want to be MORE my friend while I'm looking like this." Her tone is rueful, but not terribly distressed. Glancing at the sound of someone entering, she's momentarily glad that she doesn't have an expressive face. The Captain of the Triorian Guard isn't someone she typically wants to run into...nothing personal. However, she's doing a pretty good impression of someone that is trying to sink /through/ her seat and out of sight. In her moment of trying to vanish, she's at least not staring at Quickswitch anymore, which should make him a /little/ more comfortable. -The six-changer nods self-consciously towards Springer, "I'm doing all right," he tells the Captain. Even more self-consciously, he looks at Rung, then at Acuity, somehow sadly between them, "Yes.." he says very, very softly, touching the edges of his data pad, "I guess so.." -Arcee is not in Rung's office. She wouldn't go in there if she was paid shanix to do it. The lift arrives on the floor where Rung's office is located, however, and Arcee emerges, heading into the hallway toward a terminal to check on and file reports. -Springer looks at Rung for a long moment unmoving. "You haven't had time?" he finally asks. Then he leans foward putting a hand on Rung's desk and keeps that itense gaze on the mech, "What if the Triorian Guard didn't have time to do their job?" he pauses a beat then continues, "This mech is bein vetted to see if hes got what it takes to become one of my guard. I take my job seriously and so should you." While the green triple changer waits for Rungs reply he glances at quickswitch, "Sounds good, keep getting better at it." Strange comment but hes counting on the 6 changer to understand. He looks back at Rung. -"Bitter, well, if I'm being completely honest, a little. More the inability to change back though, since I requested the change in the first place. All in the name of research to do my job better. Just, the whole thing kinda came back to bite me in the aft." Acuity gives a rueful little laugh. She shakes her head at Rung. "Oh, I /know/ that, and /you/ know that, but my research shows that the average person on the street /doesn't/ know that. We're taught to have a negative reaction to this look," she taps the rim of her 'face' with her claws. "I'm sure you have some fancy psychological word for it, though I wouldn't know what it is." Finally she sits up straight again and looks over at Quickswitch. "I don't bite," she says with dry amusement. "Or rather, I didn't even when I did have a mouth, so you're doubly safe now." She can at least joke about it, though perhaps that's to hide some inner pain. The psychiatrist will probably be able to figure it out. If nearly anyone else had come in here and given Rung grief for not doing his job...while he's doing it...she might have said something. But her past failure sticks in her mind and she remains quiet, hoping that if she doesn't address Springer, he won't address her. HOPING. -Rung does a double take, looking even more miffed at Springer's comment. His brows crash together disapprovingly. "I'm sorry, but my job is firstly to help people and ensure their mental well being and stability. /Pardon me/, for making /that/ a priority over your impatience. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm /working/." Rung smiles softly at Quickswitch, nodding compassionately at him. "Yes. I won't allow me to be your only friend. There are others who can love and understand you, besides myself." To Acuity, he says, "Perhaps you ought to think about ways to find satisfaction outside of your job? I know that may be hard since you don't have much else outside of it, but we can all learn. And I think it would help you." He nods. "Yes, I understand, but that's something you can learn to overcome. You can learn to value yourself despite what others think of you. And even if they do judge you before they know you, you can be the stronger one and prove them wrong, with your actions. Actions speak louder than words, you know." The psychiatrist is alerted to Arcee's presence outside his office, but she remains ignored for the time being. -Arcee stares at the terminal screen for a long time, until she realizes she's read the same missive three times and she still doesn't comprehend what it says. (Wow, focus. I do NOT have the focus today,) she thinks to herself uneasily, shaking her head. (Come on, dear, get it together.) So far, Arcee's wrapped up in her own business, and hasn't given Rung or his office even a cursory thought. Something else has her processor in a loop. -Quickswitch turns pages in his book to give himself something busy to do. He all but glares at Springer--Uh, that's the Captain of the Triorian Guard--!! And when Acuity says she won't bite, he fights hard not to recoil from the claw-fingers and featureless face. Even being a fake empurata victim, the look unnerves him severely. I never thought to have friends. Never knew it was such an important aspect. But it is. I like Rung, and the sixchanger smiles fondly, but others..? I don't know it that would even be possible. He doesn't disturb Rung any further as the psychiatrist does his work. -Springer stays leaning forward in Rungs space and says, "Your job is to evaluate Sandstorm -- every mech has their place in the layers of this society, it is why it functions as well as it does. When a cog in the massive structure isnt doing its job, the ramifications effect everyone." he glances at Quickswitch, "All of him can wait --" he glances at Acuity, "She certianly can." he snaps his gaze back at Rung, "Proteus needs a new personal guard. Am I suppose to tell him that he cant have his guard yet because the headshrink has more important things to do?" -"Actions /do/ speak louder than words. But when I was out there, doing my learning, it wasn't pretty; I can tell you that much." Acuity leans forward, her tone becoming animated in sharp contrast to her face. "I like helping people, solving problems before folks get in too deep. I personally think it does Cybertron a lot better to stop the crimes before they happen via persuasion than to lock people up. Of course, some people /won't/ be pursuaded, which makes me sad, but if we all got along all the time most of us would be out of a job." As it is, Cybertronians are a volitile people, so all their jobs are pretty secure right now. Then she snaps her claws. "Do you know how hard it was to relearn how to handle things with these? It hasn't been easy. Sometimes I think I'm more annoyed than bitter." She shrugs her shoulders and leans back. At this point she catches sight of Quickswitch again and sighs. "Hang on a moment." She fishes around in a subspace pocket and pulls out a little something. Handing it over to Quickswitch she adds, "That's what I used to look like, if it helps." It's her basic ID, stating rank, function, clearance, and all that good stuff. She looks a bit stiff because it's expected for such pictures, but it's a pleasant enough face. Definitely nicer than the single optic look she's sporting now. When Springer pretty much dismisses herself and Quickswitch, she's hard pressed to not make a snort of disagreement. However, her fingers would be twitching, and since she doesn't have them anymore, her claws clack together. How embarassing. Stupid, traitorous, noisy claws! -Rung has nothing to say to Springer. And knows types like Springer, and how to /really/ get under his plating--by saying nothing at all. He simply gets up, and moves away from the Captain of the Triorian Guard as if he's not there. He smiles fondly and pats Quickswitch on the arm as he absorbs himself in literature. He then nods to Acuity. "Of course, I couldn't agree more. Ah, well, you do sound bitter. But you know, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. I am certain, that there are things you can do since you don't have hands that others who do, cannot. What are they? I do not know. I have.. hands. But I am sure that there are abilities out there more easily mastered by empurata victims that by ordinary folk like me." the psychiatrist also gets a glance at her old ID. "I suggest you put that away somewhere where you'll never see it again," he says gently, "I think it'll help you overcome your trials--don't dwell on the past if you can't change it." -The six-changer examines the picture of Acuity and compares it. The featureless look still gets to him, but he tries, he does try, to see the picture shown to him. "All of me.. what does he mean--" Quickswitch wonders, mumbles, confused--but the moment Springer has words with Rung, accusses him of not doing his job, the sixchanger's baffled mood plummets into sharp distaste. He stands, issues clipped and hawkish, "Frankly, I don't like your tone. Apologize to Rung at once." When Rung speaks to him, it penetrates into his dislike, "Will do, Rung!" And so the sixchanger gets up and leaves--leaving behind the cracked datapad for Rung to read. Quickswitch heads outside and spots Arcee, "Hello, er, do you need anything? Rung sent me out here." -Arcee looks away from the hallway terminal and toward Quickswitch. She seems...unsurprised to see him. "Oh, hello," she greets him politely. "Tell him that yes, I would like to ask him something. Since he's allowing me an audience with him. It doesn't need to be private, and it won't take up much of his time...it's just a single question." -Springer realizes he's just been ignored. That's... never happened to him before. He doesn't like it one bit. He watches Rung get up, come around his desk and talk to the two mechs in there. Then he looks back at the desk long enough to walk around it, sit down and start rifling through any datasticks and datapads that are there, "No don't trouble yourself." he says sarcastically, "I will find the report myself, Rung..." but there's some intense annoyance seething through that sarcasm you can be sure of that. "And if this Arcee hasn't come in yet and you have to send Mr. Confused 6 times over to check on them, you might have to re evaluate your social skills." -"I'll have to get any of my hand-held guns redone so I don't mangle them," Acuity says with some annoyance. "I guess the thing that irritates me is that this /should/ have worked out, and it didn't. I guess it makes me kind of peevish." She sighs and leans forward. "Now, if I had told you this same information while I still had a hand and face, what would you say?" she is curious to know. "I mean, about not having a lot of hobbies or close friends?" Oh, yeah, and then she remembers Quickswitch and Springer are in here too. Sighing she slumps in her seat again. Quickswitch leaves before she can ask for her ID back, so she'll have to get it later. But that's okay; she suspects she might have a bit more time off than she anticipated. When Springer gets all snarky, she finally speaks up. "Whoa there. We're all on the same side in here. Save the antagonism for the people out there who are turning this place into a giant ball of chaos." She's using her best 'diffusing' voice, though its effectiveness might be a little dampened by her current looks. -Rung walks coolly over to the desk and gathers the data pads and data sticks Springer is rifling through, opens a drawer, places them inside, then locks it. "I suggest you do your job, and I'll do mine, in due time. The mental profiles of all Autobots here are confidential by protocol and unless you'd like for me to call Prowl in, you'll do yourself a favor and step outside. I will be with you in a moment," he answers, his tone perfectly even, with zero sarcasm or bitterness. Rung smiles pleasantly at Quickswitch's immediate obedience. Then he turns to Acuity. "Like I said before, you'll only damage yourself by further dwelling upon what can't be changed. I don't mean to sound coarse, but I want what's best for you, and for you overcome this bitterness. And if you had a face and hands, I would say that same exact thing. Outward appearances are nothing my dear. There are most certainly people in this world who truly do not have any hobbies or close friends." Like Prowl. -A large hand clenches the doorframe and Quickswitch pokes his head in, "Arcee says she'd like to see you. She wants to ask you something," The sixchanger senses something awkward about this, glancing back at Arcee. Cautiously he hands back the ID card to the--to Acuity, holding it out so the--ugly--claws can take it. He casts a glare at Springer. How dare he, even the Captain of the Triorian Guard, accuse his friend of NOT doing his JOB. Besides, he has a paltry three modes anyway. They all did, the Triorian Guard. -Springer sits there and stares at Rung as he takes the stuff away from him it seems and puts it away and gives him some song and dance load of words. Prowl's name is mentioned. He's not scared of Prowl. "In a moment?" he quesions and stands. "Have it your way, pal." he says and walks outside. -"I just wouldn't be in here in that case," Acuity says. "So, whatever events led me to be who I am was in place before I lost my bits." She shrugs her shoulders. "I'm sure I'll get over it with enough time, and probably not even a lot of time. Learning that my hands and face were lost is still pretty new. If I said I was perfectly fine, you'd probably tell me I was in denial, right?" Her tone of voice indicates a smile she can't wear. Hopefully Quickswitch doesn't hold the 'paltry' three mode thing against everyone, since that's how many Acuity has as well. When he hands her back her ID, she says, "Thanks." Maybe Rung should remind /him/ that outward appearances don't mean much. But just as she has to adapt to looking this way, so does Quickswitch have to adapt to looking at her look that way. Acuity isn't scared of Prowl either; she has no reason to be. For the most part, she behaves herself. Well, except that one incident with the Senator, and that wasn't misbehaving so much as still being kinda young and green. But, looking back, she's not too upset about not being with the TG. She watches with her one optic as the Captain leaves. -Rung just watches Springer placidly before turning back to Acuity. "Well, perhaps a little, but if you feel that you are ready for duty I won't deny that to you. You seem of sound enough mind. But if you ever need anything, or just to talk or have a listening audio receptor, I'm here." The psychiatrist smiles at her. He nods at Quickswitch with a frown. "If it isn't private, please ask her what it is. She may come in, though." -Arcee passes Springer coming out, and she pauses for a moment, watching him leave before entering the office. Her gaze goes first toward Acuity with a hint of sympathy there. Then she nods to Quickswitch, and finally to Rung. She seems very calm and collected; certainly not the hysterical mess Rung might remember. "I won't take up too much of your time. But I really need to know the answer to this. And forgive me if I've interrupted something." She reaches into subspace, producing a datastick, which she places into the desk projector. A few images come up of Quickswitch interrogating Ruiner at Kolkular prison. The prisoner is strapped to a chair, while Quickswitch clearly attacks him to gain information. "Here's my question...this is, as you can see, Quickswitch doing his job. It's just him at work, nothing more. What I want to know is why he's such a great friend for you, and I'm such a monster I'm not even allowed to speak to you anymore without getting permission. Thank you." -When Springer appears outside, Quickswitch is of a mind to chew him out for his attitude. He opens his mouth to speak, "Hey, what did you mean by that? 'All of him can wait?'" Quickswitch says, confused. He listens to Arcee, from out in the hall. My job? My job will be to guard the Prime, not this. -Springer walks out as a pink femme walks by. His head turns to follow her inside as he keeps walking out. But his rubbernecking is interupted by Quickswitch and he turns back around and stops walking. "Face it, there seems to be a lot of you there in more ways than one, pal." -Rung is silent for a moment. He doesn't look at Arcee, instead he just watches the desk projector display images of Quickswitch beating Ruiner for answers. His gaze wanders over to Quickswitch standing out in the hallway and for the first time, Quickswitch will what it looks like when Rung is very disappointed in him. Finally, the psychiatrist looks away. "You are not Quickswitch," is all he says, and he stands up to leave. He picks up the cracked data pad Quickswitch gave him and places it in a drawer to the side of his desks and closes it. "Now if you'll excuse me, there is some other work I must attend to," the psychiatrist says, stepping out into the hallway. He ignores Springer, and continues towards the lift at the end of the hallway. -"Well, that's a relief. I was pretty sure I'd be okay, but since I'm not a psychiatrist, I couldn't pretend to see things the way you do," Acuity says, actually sounding relieved. "And I'll keep all that in mind," she adds, rising to her feet. She almost extends a hand, but then realizes that claws aren't friendly for shaking, and just kind of bows instead. Then Arcee comes in with a very heavily loaded question. Her sympathy was noted, but for a few moments she just stares at the femme. Rung's answer to her doesn't make much more sense. So she sighs. "Well, um....that was just a tiny bit awkward," she finally says as she exits the office as well. She's careful not to run right into Springer. "It's not /entirely/ his fault. There were some mixups with appointments." Mostly that she didn't realize she had to make one, but that's beside the point. It's in her nature to try to ease tensions, not ride the waves they make. -Arcee smirks, and shakes her head. "..." After Rung leaves, she glances over to Acuity, and touches her arm. "I am really, super sorry if I just interrupted your session with him," she admits quietly, departing the office along with Acuity. "My own dealings with Rung have been...a little rocky to say the least." As she emerges, she looks over toward Quickswitch, then Springer. "...He, uh. He bailed," she admits with a shrug. -Springer looks annoyed. "I noticed." -"Yeah, I kinda gathered that," Acuity says. "And don't worry too much about it; I wasn't alone anyhow and nothing I was saying was terribly interesting either." She shrugs her shoulders to Arcee. "I'd offer to shake your hand, but I might do more harm than good. My name's Acuity, at any rate. And despite appearances, the only thing I'm actually a victim of is undercover work gone wrong." Because, not actually Empurata is a good thing to point out. -Quickswitch is left wondering, and with the look of Rung's deep disappointment in his optics... -"Oh no, I understand..." Arcee's learned not to put any value judgments on empurata-punished mechs, because while they all had the similar 'marks of shame', they were all quite different on the inside. Just because Whirl was a raving maniac...well. That was /another/ story. "I'm Arcee, it's nice to meet you." She looks over toward Springer again; had she seen him before? Probably in passing somewhere. She certainly knew who he *was* and what position he held. "Sir, did I hear you mention Senator Proteus? I used to work as his personal aide," she mentions. -Springer watches the 6 changer leave and then looks at Arcee, "I'm waiting on twinkle toes the mindmedic to finish an evaluation on a new guard for Senator Proteus. If you were his personal aide you should know he doesn't like to be kept waiting." -"Sometimes you take a risk and lose out. Not that it was a complete loss," Acuity says. "I've learned a lot. I was just here to be assessed for fitness to return to normal duty after the loss of my real hands and face." She shrugs her shoulders, which pretty much have to be the most expressive part of her now, apart from her voice. "You were once a Senator's aide, hm? My condolences," she adds, her tone light with teasing." Turning slightly to 'face' Springer, she adds, "I don't think /any/ of them like to be kept waiting," she points out dryly. "But he is just /one/ of the Senators. For all we know Rung had been working on things for the other ones when I barged in and took up his time." -"Oh, I understand completely. Rung's..." Arcee glances back toward the office suite door, then admits, "Rung's just a little bit difficult at times. If he doesn't want to deal with you, he shuts you down. Completely. He hasn't allowed me into his office for a while now, and after what just happened, I doubt he will again. Too bad!" Acuity's comment makes her grin slightly. "Proteus wasn't THAT bad, just not very personable. I left his employ on good terms." -Springer studies Acuity for a moment. "And I dont like to make them wait for anything if I can help it." yes hes a good senate guard and it all about them and his job to protect them. -"Well, I didn't think it would be all that terrible, just really demanding," Acuity says. "Frankly, they made me nervous." She doesn't go further into that though. "And I only just met Rung for the first time today, so I didn't have much of an opinion going in." To Springer she simply says, "I don't blame you. Still, we all have our jobs to do and I guess that just means sometimes things get a little crossed." -Arcee peers at Springer. Wow, he's a tough one, she thinks to herself. Definitely wouldn't want to get on his bad side. "Rung has...a deal with Prowl," she explains to both Acuity and Springer. "I can't really divulge the details, but he has reasons for being less than cooperative at times. Just don't be too surprised if he stops cooperating and suddenly slams his door. He did that to me when I got on his bad side, and there's no reason why it couldn't happen again. I think it probably has to do with the...deal, situation." -Springer looks at the two of them, "My job isnt to stroke egos. I could care less what Rung has going on with anyone as long as it doesnt interfer with anything hes doing that effects me." he realizes he has to go speak with Proteus then an turns to walk away. "If he does stop 'cooperating' with me -- not that he is anyway, I might have to do something about that." -Acuity holds up a claw/hand/thing. "I don't need details. Don't want anyone getting in trouble. But thanks for letting me know there might be issues. I don't intend to irritate anyone, but I'm guessing that wasn't your intention either." She sighs. "These are troubled times; even if people don't show it, I'm pretty sure we all /feel/ it." Says the person who /can't/ show how she feels easily. Watching Springer and listening to him makes Acuity glad that she didn't stay with the Triorian Guard for long. "Well, I hope you get what you need before getting the Senator too irate," she says in an aproximation of wishing him well. -"Tell Proteus that his former aide says hello," Arcee calls to Springer as he heads down the hallway. Then, she glances over at Acuity's single optic, and shrugs slightly. "If Rung gets in trouble for packing attitude, it's really his own problem when Prowl and Magnus come down here to have it out with him..." -Acuity folds her arms gingerly. "I really don't /want/ to see anyone get in trouble. But trouble happens whether I like it or not. You could say it's the way of the world." Looking down the hall one way, then the other, she finally peers back at Arcee. "The guy is clearing me for duty, so I can't be too mad at him. But he certainly wasn't making any friends in there. And the big one, Quickswitch, nearly jumped out of his armor when he first got a look at me." She chuckles. "Not that I blame him overmuch." -"Well it's...I mean it's terrifying to a lot of mechs," Arcee admits to Acuity. "And the first mech I ever met who had that done to him was so stark raving mad, he attacked me for no reason at all. So even I had my own personal worries, until I realized that I was generalizing. Anyone who's been through this much has enough to deal with; they don't need more stigmatization on top of that." -Acuity nods her head at this. "Well, it's why I picked this disguise. I wanted to really /see/ how the bottom stretch of society lived," Acuity explained. "How they were treated. I wanted to find the source of all the anger. A person doesn't need two optics to see where things were headed. And they've only gotten worse. But, like this, I was a non person. People would say things around an empurata victim that they wouldn't around an officer of the law." Her tone is earnest, but her face remains the same, that terrifying visage. -"Oh, that's...that's a disguise??" Arcee apparently didn't realize this, and it surprises her that Acuity's taken such a dramatic step in order to understand the lower castes and their treatment. -"Well, it was /supposed/ to be a disguise. But my hands and face were destroyed in one of the dissident attacks," the other femme explains. "Which is why I was seeing Rung; I was a bit put out when I learned they were gone for real." She's probably understating this a wee bit. "You see, I had arrested this mech a while ago, and he challenged me that I really didn't know what was going on under my very nose. Turns out, he was right." -Arcee returns to feeling awkwardly sympathetic. "Well, listen. I work as a security officer now, so if there's any situation you happen to know about that bears some investigation, I'll try to help out if I can. Ultimately, I take orders from Prowl, now." -Acuity nods her head. "I'd been writing reports all along for anything past a certain level of severity. Mostly I was just there for observation since it wouldn't do any good to break cover. It was really something. I don't suggest anyone else take the same route I did, but I think a lot of people don't know much beyond what they were designated to do." She shrugs her shoulders. "There might be some wisdom in that, but I'm not sure how much." -"You don't have to answer this if you dont' want to, but I never get the chance to ask this..." Arcee's optics widen curiously. "I just wonder what the hardest part is...is it the physical limitations, or the social ostracism?" -Acuity tilts her head to the side as she thinks. "For me it would be the physical limitations, since I know that what people see when they look at me is partly incorrect. But that doesn't diminish the fact that people can be very cruel to those they feel they have permission to treat poorly. Which is why I'm a bit dubious as to the full purpose of such a punishment if it makes any sort of rehabilitiation practically impossible." -Arcee finds her mind lingering on the Tritorian Guard captain for a moment. He reminded her a lot of Proteus: perhaps not a bad mech deep within, but the prickly exterior made him difficult to approach. "That's a big part of why Megatron's movement is gaining ground; it's the whole idea of martial law and the caste system. We all know it's frought with problems. But those in power don't want to address that, because, as you can probably guess, it threatens their power." -Acuity nods her head. "Which puts people like us in a tough spot really. I just try to do my best to keep things from escalating. The people are angry for some good reasons, but they don't have the scope to look up just as those at the top don't have the inclination to look down. Frankly, it's frustrating." -"It is, I agree. Well, I have a training to go to...it was nice meeting you. I hope we can work together, or at least meet up someplace outside of here at some point," Arcee says.